The Association in South India 


MADRAS 


600 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YorRK CiTy 
1914 


THE ASSOCIATION IN SOUTH INDIA 


MADRAS 
The Field. 


Of all the cities of India, Madras satis- 
fies the traveler as typical of his idea of 
an Indian city. No pen can paint the 
shimmering heat, the sun-baked streets, 
the tropical foliage with its brilliance of 
flower and insect, the gorgeous wares of 
the shops, the fantastic colorings in the 
dress of the people. 

Madras is the third city in size in 
India. It extends for nine miles along 
the coast and for three and one-fourth 
miles inland; the Indian population is 
515,000, with 5,000 Europeans. It is 
not an industrial city, but is a center of 
government and of educational work. 
It has a sandy beach and an attractive 
boulevard along the shore. The resi- 
dences of the English and of the pros- POUNDING RICE 


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THE MapbRAS INSTITUTE AND COMPOUND 


perous Indians are very attractive, being set in extensive grounds 
and surrounded by tropical vegetation. The houses of the masses 
of the people are wretched and unsanitary, only the constantly 
prevailing sunshine acting as a preventive of disease. 


Madras is the city where the East India Company had its first 
factories, and there remain still many interesting relics of this old 
company which for so many years was the power that controlled 
affairs in India, its functions being taken over by the Crown in 
1856. 

Madras has the largest number of Christians of any city in India. 
The first church in Madras was started by a Syrian Christian and 
it is traditional that one of the disciples of our Lord was the founder 
of the church in South India. The missionary effort has reached 
largely the laboring and poorer classes.* 


Association Activities. 


- The Young Women’s Christian Association was organized in 1892 
and has for twenty-two years been an influence in the lives of 


*In South India there are millions of ‘“‘pariahs’’ or ‘‘outcasts,’’ whose social position is not 
admitted by the Hindus. They are regarded as unclean and are allowed to do only menial 
work. They are forbidden the use of the temples and even of the village wells. It is among 
these outcast people that the ‘“‘mass movement’ toward Christianity in India has come. 
Whole groups or “‘castes’’ of pariahs are seeking baptism into the church. 


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young women of Madras. It was here that Miss Mary Hill began 
her work and through her efforts was secured the beautiful build- 
ing, set in its ten acres of trees and foliage. On this plot also is 
builded the Indian hostel or boarding home for Indian women 
students. (It is of interest to note in the annual budget of Madras 
that a small sum was realized to the Association through the sale 
of fruits and pasturage from the ‘‘compound’’ or yard. This is no 
doubt unique in Association records. ) 


The membership of the Association numbers 769, of whom 346 
are students. In the Central building is the “‘Institute’’ or gen- 
eral Association for Europeans (largely Anglo-Indians”*). 


Thirty-three residents are accommodated in the boarding home. 
Among their numbers are school teachers, schoolgirls and a few 
business women. In the Central building are held the weekly 
religious meetings and Bible classes, and on the compound delight- 
ful social gatherings. The educational classes, largely in com- 
mercial branches, are held in the Institute. An interesting 
educational feature of the past year was the picture exhibition. 
Copies of celebrated pictures of the world to the number of 250 
were arranged in gallery fashion and a small admission fee was 


* Anglo-Indian is the term adopted by the British Government in 1913 for people of mixed 
European and Indian blood. 


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A BRANCH SOCIAL—MARATHI BIBLE CLASS 


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charged. Whole schools attended in a body under their mistresses 
to study the pictures. In that far-away land where there are few 
copies and no originals of the great paintings, the opportunity was 
much appreciated. Travel talks are in great demand by these 
young women, who seldom journey beyond the sunny plains of 
South India. Lectures have also been popular. An employment 
department has been a real aid to the community life, especially 
in the placing of nurses, who are less in number than are needed. 
A recreation much enjoyed by the members are the moonlight 
evenings spent upon the beach. The Governor of Madras Presi- 
dency (a province or state) has given the Association the use of 
the bathing tank at Government House, and the members use it 
two days during the week. A branch boarding home was opened 
during the past year near the business section of the city for busi- 
ness young women who could afford only a minimum living ex- 
pense. Twelve young women are accommodated at an expense of 
not over seven dollars per month. (The wages of business girls 
range from seven to twenty dollars per month.) 


Indian Hostels. 


In the hostel for Indian students are young women who are 
attending government schools and universities in Madras. ‘The 


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A STUDENT GARDEN PARTY 


majority of them are medical students (a resident matron lives in 
the home). The young women are largely Christians of the sec- 
ond or third generation; few of them are Hindus. The number 
that is accommodated is sixteen and there is an increasing 
demand for rooms. A petition has gone to the government for 
aid in enlarging the hostel. One social feature of the Indian hos- 
tel are the Indian dinners given on the roof of the building. 


Scattered Branches. 


Madras has scattered branches in various sections of the city. 
These are really ‘“‘neighborhood groups’’ of women under the 
leadership of ‘‘honorary’’ (volunteer) secretaries. Each secre- 
tary is responsible for her Bible classes, sewing classes and other 
activities. Eight of these branches are scattered throughout the 
city, while one branch is for non-resident women who live in 
remote parts of the Presidency. These members are kept in touch 
with headquarters by letters and literature sent regularly by their 
secretary. The Madras Association has its own news sheet and 
printing is a considerable item of the annual budget. 


Student Work. 


In cities of the Far East the number of trained secretaries is 
limited. The students are so intimately a part of all progressive 


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life among women in a city that the student Association work is 
under a student committee and a part of the central work. There 
are eleven student branches in nine mission and government 
schools in Madras. 


The students have special recreation in the form of intercolle- 
giate sports held in two groups, one for the Anglo-Indians and one 
for the Indians. The prizes are a conspicuous part of the sports 
in the East. An exploration club is organized among students for 
a knowledge of local places of interest. Lantern lectures on 
England and other parts of the world are popular. At a joint 
meeting of the students during the past year, a delegate from the 
Mohonk Conference from the United States gave a report of the 
World’s Student Christian Federation Conference held in June, 
1913. An Indian student secretary had charge of the department 
for three months the past year. Miss Bretherton of Great Britain 
has just completed one term as student secretary for Madras and 
is now on furlough. A system to develop practical Christianity 
among the students is directed in the line of giving treats at 
Christmas time to children in various schools. The Indian hostel 
students conduct a Sunday school in Tamil, one of the Indian 
‘“‘vernaculars.’’ 


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Conferences . 


The third conference of the Young Women’s Christian Associ- 
ation of South India was held in Madras at Easter time in 1913. 
There was an attendance of 105 delegates. 


Difficulties. 


The inevitable changes in the East, due to shifting population, 
make continuous committee work or even secretarial supervision 
extremely difficult. Miss Leila Guitner, who was for many years 
general secretary at Colombo, has been general secretary in Ma- 
dras for the past two years. Her first years in the Far East were 
spent in India and she has done splendid constructive work. She 
is now on a well-earned furlough, having spent two terms of ser- 
vice in India and Ceylon. During her absence and owing to the 
unexpected illness of another of the Madras secretaries, Miss 
Jessie Mather was called from Allahabad, where she was the only 
resident secretary, to take charge of the larger work in Madras 
city. Five is the usual number of secretaries on the staff. There is 
request for a secretary from the United States to go at once to the 
help of Madras. 


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